(Bloomberg) – Ford Motor Co. is recalling 1.3 million F-Series trucks, its best-selling and most profitable model line, costing its North American unit an estimated $267 million in the final three months of the year.
2015-2017 model years
The second largest U.S. automaker said side doors of certain F-150 and Super Duty pickups may not open or can appear closed when not fully latched. Although the company said it's not aware of any accidents or injuries associated with the problem, dealers will install water shields to side door latches on some 2015 to 2017 model year trucks to correct the issue.
The recall comes at an inopportune time for new chief executive officer Jim Hackett, who is seeking to win over Wall Street with the plan he revealed this month to cut $14 billion in costs while pushing faster into self-driving and electric vehicles. The F-series pickup line, which analysts say hauls in the bulk of Ford's profits, will underwrite much of the investment the company is making in new technology to compete in the autonomous age.
Ford was up 0.4% to $12.32 at 9:35 a.m. in New York trading but is down 0.2% since Hackett's presentation to investors, which received mixed reviews. Crosstown rival General Motors Co. has outpaced the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index in the same period as analysts value its self-driving and car-sharing businesses at as much as $30 billion.
U.S. Canada & Mexico
The F-Series recall involves about 1.1 million pickups in the U.S., plus 222,408 in Canada and 21,090 in Mexico.
Ford, which reports third quarter earnings on Oct. 26, said its guidance for full-year 2017 adjusted earnings per share is unchanged at $1.65 to $1.85.
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